1. Technical Field
The embodiments disclosed herein relate to a hose assembly including a flexible hose and a joint member connected to and integrated with an end portion of the flexible hose. Particularly, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to a hose assembly including a hose and a joint member, where the hose has a hose main body having a spiral groove portion formed on an inner surface thereof and a lip arranged to cover the groove portion, and the joint member is connected to and integrated with the hose.
2. Related Art
The flexible hoses have been used for various applications, such as a vacuum cleaner, a suction apparatus, and a drainage facility. Integrating a joint member with an end portion of a flexible hose is convenient for allowing the hose to be connected with another apparatus through the joint member. Recently, an injection molding technique so called “over-molding” or “insert molding” has been used to integrate a flexible hose and a joint member. In such a technique, a ready-made joint member is first inserted into an end portion of a flexible hose. Subsequently, the hose end portion and the joint member are introduced into an injection mold. Then, resin is injected into the mold and then solidified to integrate the hose end portion and the joint member together.
For example, JP-A-2009-250273 discloses a method for applying the over-molding technique (insert molding technique) to a flexible hose having spiral protrusions and grooves. In this technique, a joint member includes an inner member and an outer member. The outer member has a spirally shaped protrusion to be screwed into the groove of the hose. An axial position of an end portion of the hose is adjusted by rotation of the outer member. Subsequently, resin is injected. Such a technique can prevent existence of space between the hose end portion and the inner member, thereby preventing a problem in which the resin injected in an insert molding process leaks inside the hose.
Moreover, JP-A-2011-055877 discloses a vacuum cleaner hose having good flexibility and good collapse resistance while having low air flow resistance. That is, this hose includes a main body and a lip portion. The main body is formed in a corrugated shape, and has a spiral groove portion on an inner surface thereof. The lip portion covers the spiral groove portion of the main body. The lip portion is made of resin that is softer than that of the main body.